The present invention relates to the field of wireless communications. More specifically, the present invention relates to repeaters used in wireless communications networks. In particular, the present invention relates to a repeater with a quality of service (QoS) indicator.
Cellular communication is one of the widely known types of wireless communications. In a cellular communication system, a geographical area is divided into a plurality of cells. Each cell has a base station that communicates with one or more mobile devices in the cell. The mobile devices can include cellular phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and notebook personal computers. Signals transmitted from the base station to a mobile device are known as downlink signals. Signals transmitted from the mobile device to the base station are known as uplink signals.
In cellular communication networks, there exist areas within a cell where the reception of downlink signals from the base station to a mobile device may be poor. Such areas may include, but are not limited to, tall buildings, car parking basements and residential areas with poor network coverage. Mobile devices operating in such areas often face connectivity problems that results in frequent call interruptions. Hence, wireless devices such as repeaters are used to improve the network coverage in such areas. A repeater amplifies downlink signals from a base station and re-transmits them to the mobile device. Likewise, the repeater amplifies uplink signals from a mobile device and re-transmits them to the base station.
Thus, the repeater provides gain to the signals of the mobile communication network to increase the network coverage. The amplification of the signals provides better user experience by ensuring uninterrupted calls and reduced call drop rate. Another important parameter associated with a call is quality of service (QoS). The term Quality of Service (QoS) is defined in the recommendation E.800 of International Telecommunication Union (ITU) as: “the collective effort of the service performance which determines the degree of satisfaction of the end-user”. The above definition encompasses several QoS parameters that finally decide the level of end-user experience. Received signal strength indicator (RSSI) value associated with a downlink signal can be considered as an important QoS parameter. Further, QoS parameters may include parameters related to call drop rate, bit error rate (BER), modulation technique used, network congestion and the like.
Existing repeaters have been equipped with displays to indicate the RSSI value associated with a downlink signal at the repeater. Such a display provides the user with the information of the signal strength received by the repeater.
However, such a display does not provide any information regarding the QoS offered to the user. Thus, a need exists in the prior art to provide a QoS indicator that displays QoS offered to the user at a location. The knowledge of QoS would be of greater interest to the user as it would be more effective in deciding the location of the repeater than the knowledge of RSSI value associated with a downlink signal at the repeater. Moreover, such a QoS indicator is of great help to the user for future relocations of the repeater.